Hi folks,
Just my two-penn'orth:
- High Concept is literally just your character concept - if you had to describe your character in a single short phrase. It's almost like your character class or occupation with maybe your race and anything else major built in. "Suave Jet-Setting Super-Spy in a Tux"; "Frustrated Farm-Boy With Dreams of Adventure"; "Wood-Elf Ranger Exiled Since Birth".
- You invoke an aspect - any aspect - for a game mechanical bonus. Your allies can invoke one of *your* aspects for a bonus *to them*. You can invoke the crappy side of a bad guy's aspect to get a game mechanical bonus *for you*. Equipment and places can have aspects, and you can invoke them as above.
- You compel an aspect to say that something bad happens because of it. If you're running across the Pack Ice of a Frozen Lake, a compel says the ice breaks *and you can't get across*. It's not a bonus-or-penalty thing; it actually says something happens. You can compel something bad happening because of the nature of a thing, person, or place (like the pack ice); or you can compel something bad happening because of the character of a person - something they'd decide to do. So, if you have "Light-Fingered As Hell", you could be compelled to steal something in the king's throne room *and get caught*.
- If you compel an NPC or a situation so something bad happens to the bad guys, it costs you a fate point.
- If you accept a compel on yourself - something bad happens to you because of an aspect - you *gain* a fate point. You can choose to compel yourself - "Hey, I'm in the throne room! Of course I'd steal something and get caught!" - to get a fate point for yourself.
- One player can *propose* a compel of another PC's decisions. "Hey! Your character would steal something and get caught, right?" The PC's player doesn't have to go with it - "no way! This is the *king* we're talking about!" - players always retain ultimate control over their characters. It doesn't cost the proposing player a fate point; if the PC accepts the compel, he gets a fate point from the GM (assuming the GM agrees with the compel, of course).
- If you don't like the compel of an event - like the ice pack - you can pay a fate point to avoid it. The ice will probably still break, but you'll get across.
Invokes are usually pretty straightforward to grok. With compels, it's probably good to stick with self-compels, or compels of bad guys' and location aspects, until you get the hang of it, imho.
Cheers!
Sarah